The Gift: Epilogue

Note: Sequel to The Gift. Best to read that
one first, otherwise you wont have a clue as to what Im writing
about in this one.

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Chris paused a few minutes from chopping
wood to grab a drink from his nearby canteen. After taking a swig he squinted
in the distance at a figure riding toward him. Recognizing the horse and
rider immediately, he lay down his ax and waited for his friend to come up
to him.

"Vin," he greeted, with a slight nod.

"Chris," came the reply, as the tracker swung down off his horse.

"Thought you and JD be fishin today yet."

Giving his head a shake, Vin said, "JDs gonna take Casey fishin
later today, so I thought Id stop by and see what you were doin."

"Just tryin to get ready for winter," Chris said, as he gestured toward
the growing pile of chopped wood.

"Want some help?"

"Kin always use an extra hand," Chris said, picking up the axe.

"Ill use Peso to pull a few of those timbers over here, wont
have ta carry them then."

"Alright," said Chris, as he turned and went back to splitting logs again.

Working together the men made good time in getting their task accomplished.
As the sun neared the mid afternoon point, Vin asked his friend if hed
like to join him in doing some more fishing.

"Since ya werent around last night to help us eat all the fish we caught,
thought maybe yad like to have some for supper tonight."

"Sounds good to me, Vin, long as you dont mind eating fish two nights
in a row."

A shrug of the shoulders and a slight grin told Larabee that it didnt
matter one way or another to the tracker what he ate as long as it was
something.

After a few hours of fishing, theyd caught enough to cook for supper.
Chris never minded when Vin came to call for a meal. Most times he brought
the food with him, something freshly caught or shot and truth be told, his
friend was a great cook. The ex-buffalo hunter knew all about herbs and roots
and always made a feast out of whatever they were having. So he was looking
forward to sharing this meal with Vin.

Finally, after having sated his appetite, Chris sat back and lit a cheroot.

"Was good Vin, thanks."

"Skay. Always seems to taste better over an open fire, dont ya
think?"

"Seems to."

Pouring himself a cup of coffee Vin came to sit next to his friend and enjoy
the setting sun. "Sure gets dark early this time of the year."

"Fall was always Sarahs favorite time of the year," Chris said, puffing
on his smoke and reminiscing. "She loved the change in color of the leaves,
the smell of dampness in the soil and the coolness of the mornings and evenings,"
he said, with a hint of a smile touching his lips.

"And you?" Vin asked softly, rubbing his thumb back and forth on the rim
of his coffee cup, looking out to the horizon, just as Larabee was. It was
rare that Chris would tell of his life with Sarah, the memories being too
painful, but every once in awhile when they were together, like this, certain
elements would be shared.

"I hated it," Chris said, his grin widening. "Still do. Hate that it gets
dark so soon, hard for a man to get anything done, but I sure didnt
mind those cold mornings and evenings," he said, looking at Vin with that
cocky grin of his and a twinkle in his eye.

Vin ducked his head and grinned along with his friend, taking another sip
of coffee.

Sitting in a comfortable silence, Vin thought of something he wanted to say.

"Thanks for playin along the other night with that con on Ezra and
Buck. Enjoyed doin that."

"It was fun, Vin. Think I got as much enjoyment out if it as you did.
There was a moments hesitation and then Chris asked, "You gonna let
me in on how ya did it?"

Vin turned to look at Chris and gave a tilt of his head. "Ya mean ya aint
figured it out yet, cowboy?" he asked, with a grin.

Removing his hat and running his hand through his hair, Chris said, "Nope,
but I do figure that JD was in on it with ya, just havent guessed how
it was done though."

Getting up to get another cup of coffee the lean tracker sat back down and
told his friend how hed done it.

"Yer right about JD. He was in on it. Him, his glass of beer and his napkin.
See, wherever he set his beer on his napkin thats where the special
spot was. Like ifn he set it on the upper right or left hand corner
then I knew thats where the money was that theyd touched. Ifn
it was in the middle somewhere then hed put his glass either up or
down or in the middle of the napkin."

Chris nodded his head and then grinned at the man. "So thats why it
didnt even matter that they made JD move to another table? You saw
where he set his beer down when you came into the room?"

"Yup, that didnt matter one bit." Vin gave a laugh and emptied his
coffee cup. "You plannin on sleepin out here or headin
back?"

"Headin back," the gunslinger answered, putting his hat back on and
standing up. "I aint puttin up with this cold when I got a warm
place to sleep. Youre welcome ta stay at my place."

Looking up at the full moon rising, Vin took a deep breath and breathed in
the cool night air. "Thanks Chris, but Ill bed down here. Wont
be able to do it much longer, so Ill enjoy it whilst I can."

"Coffeell be on in the mornin," Chris said, as he mounted his
horse. "See ya then."

"Alright," Vin said, with a nod of his head. "Night Chris," he added, as
he and his friend grabbed forearms in their usual handshake.

With a final nod, the man in black disappeared into the inky night, the huge
moon lighting his way home and Vin got ready to spend his evening out under
the stars.

Lying down on his bedroll Vin thought about his favorite time of the year.
Like Sarah, he favored the fall of the year, but also decided spring was
his favorite too--everything was new then, grass, leaves, newborn critters,
it was a tough call as to which was his favorite. He remembered then that
he hadnt asked Chris which was his favorite. Another time perhaps,
when they were together, hed ask.

He smiled one last time before pulling his hat down over his face. His mind
wandered back to the con hed pulled. He knew he told them that hed
had the gift but in reality, he figured his friends were really
the gift. It was a special feeling to know that they could laugh
together as well as fight together. They were indeed, a special breed of
men and he was thankful for them.

THE END

Note: If I didnt explain how the trick was done well enough,
just ask and I will be happy to go into more detail. Oh what a fun story
to do! I am sorry that this took so long to get out. Sometimes life just
throws you a curve and things get put on the back burner for awhile. But
I do hope you enjoyed this. Was tough to come up with some way to tell how
it was done, but I figured Vin would let Chris in on it at some point. It
just seemed like the natural thing to do.